Double Life Release Hot Wash

Double Life Release Hot Wash

This is the Double Life hot wash. For those who aren’t in the military, a hot wash is a run-down of the good, bad, and ugly when you have an event.

So, I published a book last week…

Yeah, I know I’m super late blogging about it. One should probably write a blog on the date of such an important event. But, to be honest, I didn’t quite know what I was going to want to write until it happened. Then it was a busy weekend marketing and all that, then it was Father’s Day (apparently, I made my daddy cry, which is no easy feat #rightinthefeels).

First of all, thank you to the ~50 folks who’ve bought my book so far. Per the latest stats from le Amazon and le SmashWords, I’m looking at about 24 online purchases (mostly ebooks). The rest of the books I’ve sold from the copies I ordered directly from CreateSpace. I’ve still got about 20 or so in my car to sell, which means I might actually make a bit of profit this go’round. (Yeah, it’s not a lot. But it’s a looooooong game.)

Second, thank you to the folks who have cracked it open so far, and I know at least one of you has finished it already (besides my amazing beta readers who are incredible). Thanks for going on a journey with me and Lyssa; hope you enjoy it 🙂 (And, you know, I’d LOVE it if you’d leave me a review on GoodReads or Amazon or whatever…but no pressure).

Okay, so the thank yous are out of the way. But how was my birthday/release day?

Amazing, incredible. I’ve been feeling lonely lately, whining to myself and all that. Needless to say, I definitely ate a lot of crow on Thursday. I felt all kinds of loved and appreciated from people near and far. I got a bunch of facebook well wishes (responded by book!spam, but c’est la vie)

Lastly, a bunch of people bought my book, which was the best birthday present ever.

In other news, I wanted to share the results of my GoodReads giveaway. I had over 700 people enter to get my book.

SEVEN HUNDRED.

Not only that, but over 300 people have added my book to their “to-read” queue. I know that many of those folks have over 1,000 books in that queue and may never get around to my book, but still. Wow.

700 people know I exist!!

I’m waiting to get approval for yet another giveaway – this time 3 books/2 week time period. The giveaway itself is actually kind of expensive (the $10 cost me ~$100 to produce and ship to contest winners), but I can’t argue with that kind of exposure. So far, it’s the best investment I’ve made.

I’ve also got a Facebook Ad running, which, last time resulted in a 100% increase in fans. Since Thursday at midnight, total fans have grown by 13%, but the total number of books sold has been pretty stagnant since Thursday. Once new fans = new sales, then I’ll celebrate.

I’m planning on doing some more giveaways and free book days over the next few weeks. But you know, I’d *love* it you’d actually pony up the $4 instead of waiting for the free giveaway 😉